Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway set a track record and a Sprint Cup season high for caution flags with 14, and Trevor Bayne and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion were among those victimized by wrecks on the newly repaved track.
After starting 32nd, Bayne and his Donnie Wingo-led crew had the Wood Brothers No. 21 inside the top 20 and poised to climb higher when he was collected in a spin by Marcos Ambrose on Lap 170.
Bayne was knocked into the outside wall, and his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion sustained substantial damage to the right side of the car, particularly the front splitter. From then on until the end of the race, it was a matter of wrestling a damaged race car to the checkered flag.
“It was unfortunate for us because I felt like we had a decent run going, and we were up to 17th with everyone crashing and could have finished top-10 I think,” Bayne said. “But I guess everyone could say that because they were all crashing too.”
“The 9 [Ambrose] just got in on us and got a little loose, but that is just racing. I hate that we tore it up and didn’t get the finish we were looking for.”
Bayne wound up 21st after making a total of 17 pit stops.
Team co-owner Len Wood said he too had hopes for a much better outcome before the crash.
“We were positioned inside the top 20,” he said. “It had taken us a little while to get the car adjusted, but we were in good shape, and our fuel mileage would have been perfect.” It was around this time the incident occurred with Ambrose.
“Ambrose got loose under him, and it flat-sided the car and knocked the splitter under the car,” Wood said. “After that we just patched it up the best we could and limped it home.”
Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew return to the track in two weeks for the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
